By Barbara Arnstein
Buffalo’s annual Allentown Art Festival is BACK! This weekend, June 11th and 12th, from 11-6pm, hundreds of artists will show and sell their artwork at the 65th Allentown Art Festival and there will be music and entertainment, as well! Up to 3,000 people are expected to attend the famous showcase for artists of all kinds, which will feature art in all these categories: photography, paintings, clay, jewelry, sculpture, drawings/graphics, glass/acrylic, mixed media and creative crafts (both hard and soft). This year’s poster features several building facades — and a stream of bubbles, nicely capturing the bubbly mood of all the art-lovers who were disappointed by the show’s cancellation due to Covid the last two years. The imagination and talent behind all the categories are fantastic:
The photos you’ll find in the photographers’ booths wonderfully capture subjects ranging from local scenic beauty and charming European street scenes to a baby fox and a movie marquee. The numerous paintings that will be on display include: a simple but classic painting of three apples (red yellow and green); another featuring an expertly painted blooming amaryllis; and others nicely depicting cute little children, bunnies and flamingoes.
To mention just a few of the many works of art to be seen: the glass category includes glass adorned with red and yellow tulips and a whimsical, colorful frog wearing a vest. In the creative crafts category, the hard items include artfully carved decorative items including: a chair, a table, a bench, and a wall decoration that reads “Family Makes This House a Home”. The soft items in that category include leather bags and a leather vest. The drawings/graphics category includes drawings of a mermaid with a golden tail, admiring herself in a mirror; and roses in a container. The mixed media category includes an image of cuddling owls, while the sculpture category includes art depicting hummingbirds, and a butterfly. The clay category features a sculpture that amusingly brings to life the phrase: “feet of clay”, plus a lamp, bowls and mugs. The winner of the 2022 design contest for students created a wonderfully whimsical poster featuring a human-like sunflower wearing sunglasses, in front of an easel on which it is painting itself.
One of the artists bringing his work to the festival, David Lawrence Reade, goes to great lengths to take his photos of the great outdoors, especially in Western New York. To get them, he often heads out very early in the morning, into areas few others are willing to hike to, at any time. Here is his description of how he took his popular photo, “New Day Born”, a stunning image of dawn viewed from a mountain top.
“I hiked up Noonmark Mountain in the dark, by headlamp”, he said. “To capture this sunrise in the Adirondacks”. His work is online at davidlawrencereade.com. David Maynard, another photographer who will have a booth at the festival, specializes in images of flower-bedecked doorways and windowsills shot throughout Europe. To see his work online, go to: lashotpotography.com
The free festival will be held in the Allentown Historic Preservation District of Buffalo, NY. 350 vendors will be on hand, and there will be plenty of food concessions. For more information, call (716) 768-2000.or email: allentownartfestival@gmail.com